The present invention relates to an apparatus for producing an image recording medium and a method of producing the same.
Photosensitive pressure-sensitive recording mediums are generally used in recording apparatuses, which can be classified into two types, one of which is of a self-contained type and the other of which is of a transfer type. In the self-contained type, microcapsules encapsulating a chromogenic material and a developer material are co-deposited on one surface of a single substrate as one layer or as two continguous layers. In the transfer type, the developer material is coated on a separate substrate as a separate developer sheet. Recording methods using the transfer type recording mediums are disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication (Unexamined) Nos. 61-137749, 61-143738 and 61-173981. According to such conventional recording methods, a microcapsule sheet which carries microcapsules sensitive to light is exposed to an image-bearing light to form a latent image thereon, and is placed over the developer sheet and then a pressure-development is carried out. In the pressure-development, those microcapsules which have a lower mechanical strength are ruptured so that the chromogenic material flown out of the microcapsules reacts with the developer material to thereby form an image on the developer sheet. This developer sheet is produced from an apparatus owned by a paper manufacturer, in which the developer material is coated on the substrate using water or an organic solvent to diffuse the developer material.
However, the use of water or an organic solvent makes it difficult to maintain the apparatus. It is also difficult to uniformly diffuse the developer material even if water or the organic solvent is used. On the contrary, water, when used, requires time to be dried and the use of the organic solvent may generate a harmful gas.
In addition, the above-described conventional recording methods require the use of the developer sheet produced by the paper manufacturer and do not permit a user to form an image on a desired substrate. Therefore, there is a demand that the developer sheet producing apparatus be provided with which the developer sheet using a desired substrate can be produced.